STOP,PLAY,REWIND
by helpwhatiswrong
Summary: Because he was so tired of living in his brother's shadow, he created his own path in which he met her. YukioxOC
1. Prologue

Hi guys! Welcome to my first story! I finished watching the anime a few days ago, which gave me a lot of insight about Yukio's character. There was a lot of subtle hints throughout the episodes hinting to his desire to 'belong', which I decided to incorporate into my story. The first few chapters will feature Yukio's past - when he is training to become an Exorcist. Please let me know what you guys think! The first official chapter should be posted later this week. Thanks for reading. -helpwhatiswrong**  
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><p><strong>STOP, PLAY, REWIND<strong>

**P R O L O G U E**

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><p>The rumors followed him like a dark cloud.<p>

Okumura Yukio closed his eyes and he walked down the lavish underground hallways of True Cross Academy. It was his third year attending the nightly cram school, yet the rumors never seemed to cease.

He could feel the student's eyes on him. Their judgment and prejudice against him was reflected in their gazes.

"_There __**he **__is again."_

"_Just because he's the Paladin's son doesn't mean that he can become an Exorcist at such a young age."_

"_**Unforgivable.**__"_

Yukio knew that he shouldn't take the older students remarks to heart. He knew that deep down, the older students weren't cruel. But, at the tender age of twelve, their words struck a chord in his heart and made him feel utterly alone.

It wasn't always like this, of course. At first, the older students welcome his presence and treated him like their own younger sibling. However, once he began to show his natural adaptability to the things he learned in class, the older students began showing a very different side of themselves to him.

"_How disgusting."_ Yukio flinched, thinking that the cold words were directed towards him. "Can't you guys do anything better than make fun of underclassmen?"

Yukio slowly opened his eyes and turned to see a brown haired girl pointing an accusing finger at the older students. The older students conveyed a look of shock on their faces, "What are you talking about, Mayuri-chan? We're just fooling around." One of the students replied with a light tone.

"Oh right, and I'm just fooling around when I tell you guys to get lost." Mayuri replied with the same light tone along with a smile.

The older students hesitated, not sure whether to take her words seriously. Mayuri narrowed her eyes, "I said, _get lost_." The students flinched at the tone of her voice and immediately went into their respectively classrooms.

Meanwhile, all Yukio could do was stare at Mayuri in shock. They never exchanged more words aside from a single greeting. They weren't friends, merely acquaintances, so it didn't make any sense to Yukio that she would stand up for him.

"You'll have to excuse their behavior, Yukio." Mayuri suddenly spoke, turning to face the younger boy. "Sometimes, their heads are caught so far up their asses, they forget their manners."

". . Why did you help me?" The question came out faster than Yukio expected. The boy then covered his mouth and lowered his head in embarrassment.

Mayuri blinked," It wasn't for any particular reason." She admitted, with a small smile tugging on her lips. "Should I have stayed out of it?" She took his silence as a 'no'.

Yukio flinched as Mayuri reached forward to muss his hair. "It's okay to accept help sometimes, Yukio."

"I'll see you in class."

Those five words were so simple in their own nature, but so comforting to Yukio. For the first time since he stepped foot on campus, Yukio felt acceptance.


	2. Chapter 1

Good evening! Thank you all for the favorites/reviews/alerts for the prologue! It makes me happy to see so many people enjoy my story! I'll have to warn you that Mayuri's personality from the prologue and in this story are **different** because the prologue was more of a beta-thing. Since this is the first chapter, I wanted to create a character that was different from the ones I have created before. You'll learn more about Mayuri in the later chapters, but in the mean time, please enjoy the first installment! ^^ - helpwhatiswrong

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><p>STOP, PLAY, REWIND<p>

C H A P T E R [**ONE**]

"_team mates_"

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><p>For the longest time, no one spoke.<p>

Yukio watched quietly as Mayuri hummed a light tune under her breath, drumming her fingers on his desk. He could feel the curious gazes of the other classmates on them, but Mayuri blatantly ignored the stares.

It has been exactly one week since Mayuri had stood up for him in the hallways and the start of their odd 'friendship'. It was hard for Yukio to accept Mayuri as more than a classmate, but the older girl somehow managed to worm her way into his life.

She first started to greet him more often when she saw him in the hallways and slowly progressed to making small chats with him in class. In an ironic twist of fate, the teacher decided to seat Mayuri beside him due to her "inability to concentrate during class".

Judging by the impish grin on her face when the teacher had moved her away from her friends, Yukio suspected that Mayuri had planned to be moved all along. He still wasn't sure _why _she wanted to befriend him.

"Yuuukio. ." Mayuri sighed, propping the side of her cheek with her hand as she poked his forehead. Yukio blinked, snapping out of his thoughts and redirected his attention to Mayuri who stared back at him with a frown. "You're looking at me like I'm going to eat you alive."

". .Sorry, I was just thinking." Mayuri didn't look convinced. After a moment of hesitation, Yukio spoke again. "Why did you become my friend?"

The older girl resumed drumming her fingers on the desk once again as she gazed out into the hallway. Most of the other students were clustered outside the classroom, watching the duo from a wary distance. "Hm, I wonder." Mayuri hummed lightly.

Yukio resisted the urge to sigh. It was like this ever since the first day they first exchanged words with each other. It was frustrating how Mayuri replied to his inquires with ambiguous answers. He hated the way she treated him - it made him feel like a child.

"You just looked lonely, that's all." Mayuri concluded with a firm nod of her head. She redirected her attention from the door back to Yukio

Yukio could only watch in silence as Mayuri smiled brightly. "After all, nobody should go through this world alone."

Yukio wanted to say more, but Mayuri abruptly turned in her seat to face the front of the classroom. The younger Okumura sighed as he stared at the back of Mayuri's head, for the teacher had just entered the classroom.

"Listen up class," Yukio noted that the students in the hallways were now in their respective seats. "The fact that you are still enrolled in the program proves that you are all on your way to becoming fine Exorcists." Several students sat up in their seats and puffed out their chest with pride. Yukio could imagine Mayuri rolling her eyes at their actions.

"Now that you are all reaching the final stages of preparation, it is now time to deviate from the normal classroom stimulations and venture into the 'real world'." The classroom erupted with excited chatters. Yukio felt a nervous knot in his stomach. While he knew he was capable of taking care of himself in classroom stimulation, he didn't know how he would react in real life situations.

In a classroom, the teachers were present and controlled the demons. However, in the real world, it would just be him and uncontrolled demons. Yukio swallowed nervously, he didn't want to disappoint his father.

"However," The teacher continued, running his gaze across the classroom. "You will all be working in teams - which will consist of one member from each of the Meisters. This will all give you experience in working in teams, which will occur after you graduate."

"Your performance in the missions will determine which rank you are. Do not take things lightly." He advised as he opened a notebook. "Now I will divide you into your teams. ."

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><p>Yukio wasn't the least bit shocked to see his teammates. '<em>Mayuri-san must have said something. .'<em> Yukio thought flatly as he quietly observed the other four students in the room.

Not surprisingly, Mayuri filled the role as the Tamer since she came from the Kuroma lineage - which had a long history with summoning _tengus_ (1). As always, she remained blissfully unaware of the tense atmosphere and sat on a desk swinging her legs.

". .Well, this is an interesting turn of events." A boy spoke up, pushing his glasses up his nose coolly. "But then again, if Kuroma-san is involved, I can't say I'm surprised." Yukio recognized the Chinese boy to be Yeo Jun, who was also aiming to become a Doctor.

"You make it seem like I've done something bad." Mayuri replied, sounding like she could careless of what Jun thought of her. She redirected her gaze towards the orange-haired Chinese boy, "Any problems with the arrangement?"

Jun grunted with discontent, but didn't say more. "Well, _I _for one, have a problem with this arrangement." A girl with long black hair spoke up, crossing her arms across her chest. "I don't understand why Nakamura-sensei allowed _you _to choose the teams."

Yukio didn't recognize the girl, but judging from the sword strapped on her hip, she was the Knight of the group. Mayuri shrugged her shoulders as she leaped from the desk to the ground. "I couldn't help it if Nakamura-sensei _suddenly _got a pay raise from an unknown source~!"

The girl growled, obviously annoyed as she balled her fists. "Why you spoiled _brat_. ."

"Hey, there's no need for violence now, Kiyomi-chan!" Yukio watched as a tall boy held back 'Kiyomi' from suddenly attacking Mayuri. The taller boy laughed nervously as Kiyomi threatened Mayuri with rather vivid descriptions.

"Let me go, Takashi! _Someone _needs to put some **sense **into her mind!" Kiyomi growled, thrashing against the boy's grip. The said boy didn't comply, but rather stood there awkwardly scratching his head.

"I don't mind this arrangement. ." The Aria suddenly blurted out causing Kiyomi to freeze. Mayuri clapped her hands, "Way to go, Takashi! You stopped the _raging beast_!" Mayuri's comment snapped Kiyomi back to reality.

"Are you **crazy**, Takashi? How can you not have a problem with this team!" She turned and pointed an accusing finger at Jun. "First, there's the weird foreign exchange student," Jun glowered, muttering something along the lines of 'I am **not **a foreign exchange student'.

"Then there's the spoiled Kuroma brat who thinks the whole worlds revolves around her!" Mayuri merely beamed at the statement, taking Kiyomi's insult as a compliment. "And then there's Okumura who is three years younger than us and handling fire arms!"

"Listen, Kiyomi." Mayuri began in a motherly tone. Kiyomi frowned at her audacity to address her familiarly and crossed her arms. "There comes a time in everyone's life where they must make sacrifices for the greater good. ."

Kiyomi tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "Yeah? And what's that?"

Yukio suddenly felt himself being dragged in the middle of the circle and stood there shell-shocked as Mayuri threw her hands up in excitement. "We're all going to become Yukio's new friends!"

"WHAT?"

Suddenly, Yukio had a feeling that his life at the Academy would never be the same again.

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><p>(1) <em>Tengus<em> ("heavenly dogs") are a class of demons in Japan that have the appearance of a bird/human. _Tengus_ are protective spirits of the mountains and forests, but can be disruptive and a sign of war.


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